Connectivity
Software (3.0)
Casio bundles Photo Loader and Photohands for Windows with the EX-Z57. Photo Loader for Mac OSX is also included. Photo Loader is a downloading and organizing utility, and Photohands is an image editing program. Both software packages are limited and frustrating.

Photo Loader downloads and saves images and generates html files to form a directory of the pictures. It organizes the directory by date, and starts Microsoft Explorer to view the directory. It's unfortunate that the program defaults to saving images to a directory within the program files directory, rather than in the standard “My Pictures” folder where many users will expect to find them. In general, Photo Loader doesn't integrate functions well for users, bouncing them from its own minimal and unhelpful interface to Explorer to Photohands.

Photohands is odd. It's a very limited collection of editing tools bundled in a gratuitously confusing and inefficient interface. About half the screen in Photohands does nothing – offers the user no data or controls. Another tenth or so is taken up by four animal-themed buttons for the program's four functions. A solid quarter of the screen is taken up by a thumbnail viewer, which shows only three images at a time, smaller than they would appear on the back of the camera. Much more than half of the thumbnail viewer is taken up by over-stylized backgrounds and the two-button navigation tool. The window showing the selected image is probably less than 20 percent of the program window.

The chameleon button brings up contrast, brightness, and saturation sliders, as well as buttons to activate sharpening (soft, hard or OFF), Noise Removal (on or off) and Filter (black-and-white, sepia, or OFF). There is no color balance adjustment. The kangaroo button brings up a resize dialog, the monkey button allows the image to rotate in 90-degree increments, or flip horizontally or vertically. The cow (I think it’s a cow) brings up the print dialog.

There are many more effective choices for handling images on your computer. Which ones are better? All of them. For simplicity's sake, I'll just mention Photoshop Elements, which allows users to do far more in a much more direct manner.

Jacks, Ports, Plugs (6.0)
The EX-Z57 is packaged with a dock that handles both its USB and power connection. The dock's power cable plugs into an AC outlet, and its standard USB plug can connect to either a computer for downloading images, or to a PictBridge compatible printer for camera-controlled printing. The EX-Z57's Lithium-Ion battery charges while the camera is stationed in the dock. There is no provision for charging it separately. For most users, that's not a significant limitation, but it's unfortunate that there isn't an option to keep a spare battery, and charge the depleted one while using the spare.

Direct Print Options (6.0)
The EX-Z57 is compatible with the standard computer-independent options: PictBridge and DPOF. In Playback mode, the user can choose which pictures to print, how many copies of each frame to print, and whether to imprint the capture date on the final prints. PictBridge-compatible home printers can read the data and print the images without reliance on a computer. Some photo labs can also read the data and download print orders from SD media cards. The EX-Z57 is also compliant with EXIF and Print Image Matching standards, which aim to maintain color fidelity in prints.

Battery (8.0)
The EX-Z57 uses an NP-40 rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery. Lithium-Ion is a high-capacity technology, typically providing long life between recharges. The EX-Z57 seemed to have good battery life in the period we spent with the camera, and is estimated at 400 shots per charge, according to CIPA standards. This should endure well beyond competing cameras that rely on AA batteries – even rechargeable AA cells.

Memory (6.0)
The EX-Z57 has 9.3MB of internal memory. That's enough to hold four images at the camera's largest file size (the resolution Casio suggests for a letter-size print), 94 images at the very smallest size (suitable for emailing), and various sizes in between. The camera also accepts SD memory cards, when additional storage is necessary.

Other Features (4.0)
Custom Mode – In the Best Shot mode, it's possible to create your own custom mode to meet individual shooting needs.

Programmable Buttons – It's possible to set the left and right buttons on the four-way controller to control a variety of features that are usually only available via the menu.

Self-Timer – The EX-Z57's self-timer offers a 2-second and 10-second delay, followed by three exposures at 1-second intervals.

Image Parameters Page 9 of 12 Overall Impressions Casio Exilim EX-Z57 Digital Camera Review Navigation